Silent Courage
by Heuvel
Summary: Russell, Alden and Ellie are three orphaned children who have been home schooled up until the death of their parents. But of the three, Ellie is most traumatized, and fell silent. The three siblings go to Hogwarts to further their education. Harry/OC
1. Chapter 1

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Daily Prophet, August 27th 1996

The already alarming death toll caused by You-Know-Who and his followers has gained two more; Augusto and Jan Davis, two aurors that have been openly against the doctrine of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are succeeded by three children, Russell Jonathon Davis, Alden Price Davis, and Ellie Mae Davis, who have been home schooled for almost the entirety of their lives, but will be attending…

It seems that of recent decision, Sirius Black has been forgiven of all his charges since his death in the Department of Mysteries. Black is well known for being the supposed muggle murdered after the wake of the death of Lily and James Potter, and the cousin if not only well known crazed Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange but auror Nymphadora Tonks…

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO?  
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO  
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!

"Harry!" And he was pulled out of his reading to look up at Hermione, who had entered the carriage with Ron after their prefect duties. "We've been trying to talk to you for the past five minutes!"

"Sorry." Harry mumbled, "More people have died."

"Yes, I read that." Hermione said, sitting down and fussing over Ron when he stumbled into the carriage, arms full of sweets.

"You'll have to dress into your robes, soon, Harry. We're about there." Ron said. Of course, because of their duties, he and Hermione had to wear their robes for the duration of the trip. Harry was still in his casual clothes.

Standing up where he was, he pulled his robe over himself and pinned his Quidditch Captain badge onto the collar, gaining a proud smile from his friends. Sitting down again, he handed the paper to Ron, "Fred and George are having a go with the advertisements."

"Yeah, I hear the Prophet doesn't much like them. But no one else will advertise nowadays-too scared too- so they have to give them space. It doesn't hurt that Fred and George have the money to bribe them, anyway."

The remaining of their sixth train ride to Hogwarts was fairly peaceful. When it finally ended and Harry heard the all too familiar clawing and scraping of trunks and feet on the floor of the train he got up himself to help Hermione with hers and get down his own. Hedwig clicked her beak at him nonchalantly when he took the cage and seemed to have glared at Pig, whom she sat next to for the duration of the trip.

It was customary for second years and up to ride on the back of Thestral drawn carriages up to the Hogwarts castle while the first years took the trip by boat, so once hitting the station and greeting Hagrid, the three walked to the forest area around Hogsmeade to wait their turn to board. They were the last off the train, like always, thanks to chatting it up with Hagrid, and thought they were the only ones in the forest.

"Hope there's pudding." Ron mumbled, glaring at the excited Pig, "Mum's is better but she doesn't make the same amount as Hogwarts."

"Don't you ever think about anything other than food?" Hermione seethed. Ron shrugged his shoulders indifferently; Harry saw something in the trees beyond.

"Oi!" Came a strong voice behind them. They turned around to see three figures stalking along the path.

Upon closer proximity, Harry saw two boys and one girl. The boys were twins, from the neck up at least, but from the neck down they seemed almost the opposite. Though the same height, one was strong, buff, with broad shoulders and rippling muscles under his Hogwarts sweater while the other was skinny and smaller, wearing glasses. The girl was shorter than the both of them, with a pinched waist and long legs. They all had the same bright blonde hair that curled slightly, especially the girl's, and brown eyes. Astonishingly, the buffer boy was carrying two trunks upon his shoulders, most likely his own and his sisters, while the smaller one seemed to be carrying his own. Though they were each wearing their Hogwarts uniform, Harry noticed that none of them had an emblem of a house on them-they were new.

"Good evening" Said the smaller boy, reaching out and shaking Harry and Ron's hand, "We were hoping to catch the carriage with you three. Do you mind?"

"Uh, no, sure, yeah." Harry mumbled out, and they each clambered up to the carriage. Harry watched as they both gracefully lifted their sister onto the carriage directly across from Harry.

When all was settled, the stringy boy then said, "My name's Russell Davis. That's my twin, Alden, and our little sister, Ellie."

Hermione let out a little gasp, but Harry cut her off, "I'm Harry." Two identical eyes shot to his forehead, "And this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley."

"Ah, Weasley." Said Russell, "We know your father-Arthur, correct?"

"Yes." Ron said, "How do you know him?"

"Came to visit my dad for tea a lot." Russell explained, "Nice man. Pureblood, you are, correct?" Ron nodded uncomfortably, "Not a lot of those around anymore. Your father and mine often discussed this."

"And you?" Harry asked.

"Pureblood. Been around since the Peveralls." Said Russell casually.

"Your parents.." Hermione said, "They were against Voldemort?"

Russell perked up at the sound of his name, "My, what bravery. Yes, they were. And we are too. All of us." Harry let out a sigh of relief at this, which Alden noticed and chuckled.

"And you were home schooled? Why?" This, now, was Ron.

"Our parents trained us themselves. Being aurors and all-didn't need Hogwarts when you had the best wizards you could get. They trained us in everything, from Potions to Dark Arts. Good teachers, they were. Ellie here is an exceptional duellest. But, you know, now that they're gone."

"That must have been horrible." Hermione sighed, "We're really sorry to hear about it…"

Alden spoke for the first time, his voice was gruff and hard unlike Russell's smooth, "They died fighting; they fought for what they believed it. I'd rather have them die like that than old and boring. We'll make them proud."

This irked Harry. Sure, his parents also died fighting, also died for what they believed in. But how can he be so, how to saw, casual about it? So accepting? He couldn't restrain himself, "You don't seem all that sad at all." He bit out, causing Hermione to scowl at him from his left.

"We didn't see them die." Russell said, "We were informed by the Ministry while we were in Romania with a Charlie Weasley-yes, your brother?-and we rushed home. Ellie here saw it all. She's the most shaken up." He looked down at his sister and Harry did the same. For the first time, he noticed that she wasn't looking at him or her brothers, but to her right, forward, at the Thesal intently. She didn't say anything or acknowledge the presence of the other people in the carriage. Harry looked to Hermione, who was blinking at Ellie as well. Hermione was about to say something to the other girl, but was cut off by Russell, "No point in talking to her." He said gently, "She's become a selective mute since the night."

"Selective…What?" Ron asked.

"More of reactive." Russell thought, watching his sister, "She's refused to talk. Won't whisper a word to us. Too bad too, she has a singing voice that could put Voldemort to sleep. We miss her songs, don't we Alden?" His brother nodded.

"Why has she refused to talk?" Hermione asked.

"She's traumatized, I assume. Won't tell us what happened. The Ministry said she shot red sparks in the air over the house while a Death Eater sent up the Dark Mark. Next thing they knew, our parents were laying dead from the Killing Curse and a Death Eater with their head blown off."

"BLOWN?" Ron gawked, "I didn't know there was a spell for that?"

Alden chuckled, "There isn't. Ellie used a gun."

Harry stared at Ellie for a long while. She was pretty, hauntingly gorgeous, almost like a ghost of a model. But he could tell, surely, that she was horribly sad. She didn't seem to notice her brothers telling her story, but when the gun was mentioned, he did notice her push up her jaw just a little higher.

"Why..?" Hermione breathed.

"The Death Eater took her wand away. Only thing she could think of." Russell explained, "It's a precaution, that gun; to only use when we desperately need it. Well, if Ellie hadn't, she wouldn't be sitting here right now."

Harry looked to the young girl before him, and again, she wasn't looking at anyone. Currently, she was looking at the Thestral again. Gently, Harry said, "You can see them, too, can't you?" Ellie's eyes moved from the deathish horse to Harry. Russell and Alden, also, looked at Harry. Ellie gave Harry a sad nod. "Thestral." Harry explained to Russell, to which the boy nodded and looked at Ellie, concern on his own face.

"You play Quidditch?" Ron asked Alden, changing the tension of the carriage.

Alden smiled and said, "Sure do! Chaser. You?"

"Keeper." Ron explained, looking to Russell, "Do you?"

"No, I do not." And Harry caught a hint of Percy in Russell, "I have to focus this year. It's our last year of schooling and we want decent grades. Well, I do." Russell smiled as Alden went to tell Ron about his broom, and he moved his attention to Harry and Hermione, "We're in year seven, Ellie in six."

"Ah! She's in our grade!" Hermione said brightly, smiling at Ellie, "What house do you think you'll be in?" But Ellie shrugged, indicating that she had no clue.

"Well, we're in Gryffindor." Hermione continued, "All three of us."

Russell smiled at Harry and Hermione, obviously appreciating their effort in including Ellie; and Ellie, in turn, smiled at them as well. Harry looked to all three siblings before him. They were kind, polite, and seemed to have a lot of pride in their parents. He liked them; he liked how Alden was in a deep discussion about famous Quidditch players with Ron, how Russell was talking about runes with Hermione, and he just liked how Ellie looked.

When they finally made it to the castle, the six of them started to approach the grand entrance when Russell stopped and said, "This is where we part, my friend. Dumbledore asked us to meet with him before the feast. Said we needed to be sorted."

"Will you be sorted in front of the school?" Ron asked.

"Don't quite know. But we'll talk to you all soon." And Russell shook Ron and Harry's hands once again, followed by Alden. Ellie merely smiled. They walked away to the awaiting Dumbledore, causing the trio to head into the Great Hall by themselves.

When they sat down, Harry couldn't help but notice that a lot of the students were watching the Davis children. Malfoy, in particular, was glaring down the Hall, then back to Harry once again. Harry seethed back and turned around to address his friends. Semus was the first to talk to them, "Who was that?"

"Davis siblings." Harry explained, "The ones who lost their parents."

They continued with the ceremony of the feast like normal. Dumbledore made his introduction speech and then the first year students lined up to begin to be sorted. Harry, in particular, watched the sorting intently. But the Davis siblings weren't anywhere in sight. It was only until after the Sorting Ceremony that Dumbledore went to the podium and waited for silence. Then he said, "We have three new students that will be attending Hogwarts this year. You may have read about them in the Daily Prophet, and we on staff ask for all of our students to represent Hogwarts well, and to be sensitive and considerate to our new students." Dumbledore smiled at his pupil, and then said, "May I introduce Russell, Alden and Ellie Davis."

And so, Harry saw all three of the siblings that he sat with walk down between the tables. Ellie was in front of them, being the shortest, and Russell and Alden were walking side-by-side. A lot of the girls of the room giggled and started leaning to their friends, whispering things about the twins that made Harry feel uncomfortable. Boys of the room were going nudging their heads silently to Ellie, then raising their eyebrows to their own friends. It was no mistake; all three of the siblings were beautiful in their own way. Whether they were buff, intellectual or simply radiant, someone, somewhere, in that Hall was complimenting them.

They stood in front of Dumbledore, and the old wizard motioned for Russell to approach the stool. McGonagall put the hat upon his head, to which the hat sprang to life for the second time that night and said, "Ah, Russell, what a mind you've got inside you! I must put you somewhere, shouldn't I? I know…RAVENCLAW!" And there was applause. So McGonagall smiled and motioned for Alden to take the stool next. He did so, and they only had to wait for a little while before the hat started talking outloud. "My my…You are nothing of that of your twin." The hat mused, "You are ambitious, strong, and somewhat proud. I know where to put you, but you will be separated from your brother. You don't mind? Very well…SLYTHERIN!" There was applause, despite this fact, for twins had been split up before. It made sense anyhow; for one was cunning in Slytherin while one is intelligent in Ravenclaw; the difference between the boys was one's love for athletics before studies, and vice versa. This wasn't a shock. And thus, almost as though expected, Ellie was to be placed in Slytherin or Ravenclaw.

"Hope she get's Ravenclaw." Ron mumbled.

"Why? You liked Alden." Hermione scolded, "You don't like him now?"

"Not if we have to go against him in Quidditch!" Ron seethed. "Right Harry?" And Harry nodded, but didn't reply, for it was Ellie's turn.

Ellie walked up to the stool and sat down, staring out at the students before her. She made eye contact with her new friends, Harry, Hermione and Ron, and smiled weakly at them; she was obviously nervous. The Hat mused, "Ah!" And it made her jump considerably, "You, my dear, have been through darkness that many students have not. You have seen things, and did things, that would astound students at this school. But where to put you?" There was a pause, every student and teacher was watching Ellie intently, and suddenly, the hat yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

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A new story. Tell me what you think, please! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Harry didn't clap. None of the Gryffindors clapped. Actually, no one in the Great Hall clapped. It went silent; completely, utterly, silent. It wasn't because no one wanted Ellie in their house, or that they were disturbed by her, it was her placement that bothered them. No pair of siblings had ever been split up into Slytherin and Gryffindor before; and to top that, having three siblings each be place in a different house was rare. How was there going to be peace among their family now? Their parents were dead, and they had been split up even in schooling.

Harry looked around him at his classmates, and then at Ellie once more. She didn't move and McGonagall was too shocked to take the hat off of her. And to his horror, Ellie looked to be on the verge of tears. So Harry stood up, gaining a few stares of his own, and started to applaud Ellie. Hermione and Ron followed suit, and soon the entire table was clapping for her, then it became Ravenclaw and finally Hufflepuff. Alden, at the Slytherin table, also started to clap loudly, and most of his housemates clapped out of respect.

Ellie let out a sigh of relief before hopping off the stool and walking to the Gryffindor table. Harry stood standing, offering her a seat next to him, to which she took, and she sat down silently. Her eyes, which had been dull and unresponsive on the carriage ride, were now sparkling. Harry knew; he had done something correctly. Professor McGonagall followed her and leaned down close to the table so that surrounding Gryffindor's could hear, "She doesn't talk." She said sharply, "Be respectful; you're representing your house." And she took the Sorting Hat off of Ellie, who had forgotten it was there, and strode off to the staff table once more.

"Welcome." Hermione said kindly, "You can tag along with me and I'll show you where your dormitory will be." And Ellie nodded.

The next day, after Ellie had been settled into her new home, she followed Hermione, Ron and Harry silently to breakfast. Hermione was walking next to her, "Now, Ellie, if you need anything from us, how will you tell us?" Harry and Ron perked up. Ellie's eyes blinked back at the bushy haired girl. She then moved her hands, indicating that she would charade the request out. "Ah." Hermione said quickly, catching on, "You'll have to always be with someone if you want to get into the Common Room too.." She said thoughtfully, "Since you need a password." And Ellie nodded.

While at lunch, Harry realized that Ellie had the same timetable as himself, and thus, was instructed by Hermione to be her babysitter. Their first class was double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Snape, and though Harry hated the class more than any of the others, he remained respectful enough so that Ellie wouldn't become discouraged. (Mainly because Hermione told him to.)

As they walked into the dark and danky teaching room and took their own seats, Harry next to Ellie and Hermione and Ron together, Harry couldn't help but notice that Alden was in this class as well, despite being a seventh year. He wasn't sitting at the Slytherin table with Draco and the others, but standing next to Snape's desk. Obviously, Harry though, he was here to watch Ellie.

"It seems…" Snape started, calling a silence over the entire room, "That this year you lot will be starting with non-verbal magic. And it's come to my attention by the headmaster himself that our new students have already learned non-verbal magic." Snape looked at Ellie, "I thought it would be appropriate to have you demonstrate for us."

Alden walked over to Ellie and took her hand, pulling her from her stool and muttering, "Come on, it's alright." And placing her wand in her hand. Harry looked at Ellie and could tell that she wasn't comfortable.

"Obviously." Hermione seethed when Harry mentioned this, "The last time she did a spell, she was fighting a Death Eater!"

Ellie stood at one end of the room while Alden stood at the other. At this point, Russell, who had a free period, walked into the room. "Professor McGonagall said you wanted me present, Professor." He said professionally.

"Ah, yes, if you would please join your brother." Snape said.

Russell did as he was told, but looked with concern at his sister. "Sir, we shouldn't outnumber her…"

"If one was being attacked by Death Eaters." Snape said, "They would be outnumbered. I'm simply interested to see your sister defend herself; as she did so valiantly already."

"Couldn't you wait until she was over it?" Alden said, turning around to address the professor.

"Certainly." Russell added, "Disturbing the psychology of a student-especially one that is traumatized and has repressed memories-would be counted as mental and emotional abuse." But he was disturbed to make his next point when a small ball of parchment hit him in the back of the head. Turning around, Russell looked at his little sister, as did the rest of the class. She had her wand raised, obviously the one who had charmed the parchment, and a determined look in her eye. Smiling, Russell said, "For now, we'll let it slide, I guess. Alden, take your wand." And his brother did so.

"Tell us when to start, Professor." Alden said, as they got into dueling positions.

"When one duels." Snape seethed out, "They bow to their opponent."

"Well." Russell said shortly, "If one is being attacked by Death Eaters, they wouldn't have time to bow, as my sister ignored so _valiantly_ as well."

Snape glared at the boy, and said shortly, "Begin."

The scene before Harry's eyes, and when he looked at his friends he realized they felt the same, was astonishing. Neither of the three siblings said a word to each other or to Snape. There were a series of red and green and even blue flashes across the room, but Harry couldn't pick out what each spell was, for they were happening so fast and so frequently that no one could keep up. The two brothers, now advancing on the backing Ellie, whipped their wands like swords and both threw curses and hexes at her. Cuts and blood started to form across her face, but Ellie didn't relent, as she seemed to be picking out the more disabling of hexes to counter-jinx and allowing the small and less dangerous, like simple cuts, pass through without much worry. Hermione looked frightened, nervous even, while Ron looked absolutely terrified. Then, out of no where, Alden flicked his wand to the right, and something dark and cold came out of his wand. Harry shivered and watched closely as a dark mist started to cover the floor and creep up the tables where the students sat.

Since Ellie was standing beside him, Harry could see exactly what she was doing. She was pointing in front of her, a bright silvery smoke emitting from her own wand. She was making a patronus. But it soon turned into a bird, and flew around the room to disperse the black fog. This impressed her brother immensely, for he yelled, "Good!" From within the smoke. Harry smiled at Hermione and Ron, who, in turn, looked impressed as well.

The siblings seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Harry knew why. They hadn't been sitting in classrooms for six years like he and his classmates had, they had been literally and practically fighting each other, practicing, for when the actual duel occurred. This was why each sibling had a smile upon their face, and when Alden jumped from the floor and onto the top of one of the tables, Russell only laughed and continued fighting Ellie as Alden surrounded the both of them with the smoke once again. Obviously, this was something the siblings did a lot of.

Snape held up his hand, indicating for the three to stop, which they did one by one; Alden last. "Impressive." He said, "Complete nonchalance." This surprised Harry, for it was the closest Snape's ever been to complementing someone. "Russell, Alden, you may go."

Before leaving, both brothers kissed their sister on the cheek and they left for their own classes. Snape stared at Ellie and said, "It's all fine when you're fighting your brothers; obviously, they'd never hurt you. But what about someone you didn't know, Ellie? Would you survive without fighting for fun? And _without_ a gun? Draco."

And Ellie saw for the first time, a Draco Malfoy stand up smirking with his wand in his hand. Before Harry could protest loudly, Draco yelled out, "Stupefy!" At Ellie. She flew back and painfully hit the wall behind her.

At this, Harry jumped up from his seat, "That's NOT fair! He caught her off guard!"

"If one is fighting a Death Eater, they won't get much notice, Potter, now sit down."

Ellie pulled herself from the wall slowly and silently sent a curse to Draco, sending him to the wall himself. Pulling herself up completely, she flicked her wand again and made Draco float upside down in the middle of the room. Then, with another flick of her wand, Draco's arms and legs snapped to his sides, and finally, his wand flew out of his hand and into Ellie's own. When all this was done, much to Snape and Malfoy's shock, Ellie flicked her wand one last time, and Draco's pants fell down to reveal his boxers; and only his facial expression indicated his discomfort. The entire class burst into laughter, and even Snape sneered at the still Draco. But before he could do anything, the bell rang, and the class along with Ellie left the room to leave Draco for Snape to fix.

"That was amazing!" Ron yelled, gaining a lot of agreements from their fellow classmates.

"And all nonverbal!" Hermione squealed.

"Yes, that's great." Ron said with no patience, "But did you see the look on Draco's face?"

Classes went like this for the rest of the day. Ellie excelled, and Hermione caught wind from upper years that her older brothers were also doing quite well in their own classes. Literally, the Davis children had been some type of ray of sunshine on the school, every teacher, other than Snape of course, liked them.

It was that night during dinner that Ellie was silently eating her food, listening to Harry and Ron debate over Quidditch when Alden walked over. He sat down between Ellie and Harry, much to the surprise of their fellow Gryffindors. Leaning over, he said something into her ear which caused her to hop up from her seat. Alden went to the Ravenclaw table to inform Russell; Ellie made sure to ruffle Harry's hair affectionately before walking away. This, of course, caused Harry to smile from ear to ear; and Hermione and Ron to chuckle at him. "You like her, don't you?" Hermione asked.

"I've just met her." Harry said, but he kept smiling, "But..she's sweet. You know, today in Potions she did her potion perfectly, before I even finished. And I've been using the Prince's book…"

"Wow.." Whispered Ron, much to Hermione's annoyance.

"She'd already done it at home." Harry explained, "She's own the book for years; her parents attended Hogwarts and taught all their kids everything they know. But they taught them all at the same time; so she actually has the intelligence of a seventh year. She's only in our year because of her age." Harry smirked at Hermione, "She's giving you a run for your money."

"Well!" Huffed Hermione, "Her parents may not have taken some subjects that I am taking!"

_

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_Sorry it took a bit longer to update. Been really busy this week. :) Hope you're liking it! thanks for reading!

But Harry and Ron only laughed at her, to which she joined in, and they continued talking about Ellie. They only wondered for a couple of moments where Ellie and her brother's might have gone, but they didn't think about it long. That is, not until Alden came back and tapped Harry on the shoulder, "Sorry to bother you, mate, but Dumbledore needs you in his office with all of us."

"Oh.." Harry mumbled, standing up and following Alden back to the staircase of the Headmaster's office. "Why does Dumbledore need me?"

Alden's strides were a lot longer than Harry's, for he was taller and buffer, but he answered kindly, "Two things, really." Alden said, "The first one is something about the houses of Hogwarts. The second about Ellie's memories."

"Memories?" Harry asked. What memories were they talking about? And why was Harry going to see them?

But they approached the office before he could press Alden any more, rode the staircase up to the top, and entered. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair behind his desk while Russell was standing before him, professional, with his arms behind his back. Ellie was looking at Fawkes, holding her hand out conciliatorily and smiling. Once everyone was settled, Dumbledore addressed then all, "She's taken a like to Fawkes, Harry. Like you did four years ago."

"Yes sir." Harry said politely, watching Ellie pet the birds fire-like feathers. He wondered why she wasn't standing in front of Dumbledore like he and her brothers had to.

"I first wanted to talk to you all about your attitudes with each other. Specifically you, Harry, Alden and Russell. Teachers around the school have noticed how polite you have all been to each other, and I wondered if this was for the sake of Ellie or…"

"No sir." Harry spoke up, causing the other boys to glance at him, "I..uh..Well we, Hermione, Ron and I, met them while riding up to the castle when we got off the train last night. And we got to know them that way. We knew them before they were sorted, sir."

"I suspected as much." Dumbledore smiled, "And I'm glad. This relationship between you three, and Ellie, of course, has caused a bit of a stir-It seems you are doing what the Sorting Hat always suggested, you're uniting the school. I just ask that you three set a good example between the three of you, especially you and Alden, Harry. These are dark dark times, as you three are well aware of, and the best thing we can do in Hogwarts is promote school pride, and unity."

"Yes sir." Said the three.

"Russell, Alden, you may now go back to your dormitories. Harry and I will stay here to have a chat with Ellie. I hope you don't mind."

Both boys tensed protectively, but Russell said, "You won't…harm her, will you?"

"Of course not." Dumbledore smiled, "We're only going to ask her to produce a couple of memories for us."

"Will she have to relive or recall these memories?" Russell continued.

"No. Actually, we will be literally pulling the memories out of her mind. Repressing them even more, if anything."

Russell and Alden smiled, and Harry knew that all they wanted was for Ellie to forget the faithful night of her parent's death. So they left, leaving Ellie, Harry, and Dumbledore alone in the Headmaster office. Dumbledore smiled at Ellie and gently motioned for her to come over, which she did, and instructed her on how to remove memories from one's brain. After listening intently, Ellie took her wand and pressed it against her temple, then pulled out the little silvery line of dust. She dropped it in the Pensieve that Dumbledore provided. Then she took out another, much to Harry's confusion, and dropped them in. Finally, she dropped in a third, and looked at Dumbledore. He was, also, very confused. "The other two memories…What are they?" But Ellie didn't answer. She only stared at him. Dumbledore smiled, "They're…Your parents." And she nodded.

"Well, then, Harry, if you'd join us here. We will enter the Pensieve together. And we shall learn about Ellie." He smiled at the young woman, "I assume you want to wait here?" And she nodded. "Well, then I would suggest spending some time with Fawkes. He seems to like you." And Ellie smiled, and went back to the bird.

"Harry, after you." And Harry did as he was told, and jumped into the Pensieve.

_Harry was surprised to see that he was standing in a little kitchen on the outskirts of some small down. It took Dumbledore only a couple seconds after him to land as well. "Sir…?"_

But Dumbledore didn't say anything, he only watched as a young woman came into the room. She looked a lot like the Davis children-With their blond hair and brown eyes-but she was older. Lean, but smiling, and she was cooking dinner. This was Ellie's mother. "Russell! Alden! Ellie! Hurry up, now, your father will be home soon!" And Harry heard three pairs of feet pattering down a long staircase.

"Mum!" Cried a young female voice, and Harry's heart leapt. Before him, stood a little Ellie, about the size of a six-year-old. Her eyes, unlike the current Ellie, were bright and happy. She was holding a music sheet before her. "Mummy, can I play this song once before dinner? Please? I've just figured it out and I want to show you before I forget…"

"You wouldn't forget." Said her mother, "But alright. Go on, I'll be there in a moment."

And so Ellie went to settle herself in front of the rundown grand piano in the Davis living room. Russell and Alden followed her, content on listening to a song before they, too, started to eat. The mother came in last, and sat down on the stool in front of the piano. "Go ahead, dear. Which song is this?"

"Que sera, sera, mama." Said the girl, fixing her fingers across the ivory keys and waiting until everyone was settled before playing. Her voice, though small and weak, was beautiful as it sang out the lyrics to the song. Harry looked at Dumbledore, and he saw how the Headmaster was smiling. Harry, himself, was smiling. The scene in front of him was one of the warmest things he had ever seen. If only he had a mother of his own, that would sit down with him and listen to him sing. 

_Then, from the kitchen of the house, a door opened, but Ellie continued singing. It was not until she was completely done with the song that a loud booming voice that made everyone, even Harry, jump, "Beautiful, young woman!" It was Ellie's father. Ellie giggled and jumped into her father's arms, while he kissed his wife and nodded to his twins, saying something like, "Practiced today, right?" And his sons said they had. _

_"Dinner is ready." Said Ellie's mother, "We better go eat before it gets cold." _

_A white fog, like the one that Slughorn made when he tampered with his own memory, started to surround Harry and Dumbledore. Then, they found themselves in the same house. The only difference is that it was night, and there were more treasured scattered around the small living room in which Harry found himself. Before him, on the same grand piano, sat an Ellie that was the same age as the current Ellie. Harry gathered that this was only a few months ago-for even the length of her hair was the same. Her mother was cooking, like last time, and yelled out from the kitchen, "Ellie, dear, will you play that song again? The one I like?" _

_Ellie smiled and said, "Yes mum!" Harry felt his heart leap a little bit at this. Ellie had a soft airy voice, one that stood intelligence, but also sweetness. She was, and her voice was, absolutely beautiful. Especially when she started to sing Que Sera, Sera once again. Harry knew, he didn't need Dumbledore chuckling at his side, to know that there was a dumb smile across his face. Literally, her voice was that of an angel. While she played, her brothers clambered down the long staircase like before, and stopped to listen to their sister sing one of their own favorite songs. And just like last time, Ellie's father came home to hear this song ,and again he complimented her, kissed his daughter and wife, and talked about sports with his son. A picture perfect family, Harry saw. And a beautiful voice that was currently muted. _

_The fog descended upon the scene for the second time, and this time, it was like before, only Ellie wasn't playing. She was talking with her mother, "Mum, when will Alden and Russell be home?" _

_"Tomorrow night. We'll have to make a special dinner for the both of them, hm? Something they both like. Those boys worked hard over the summer with those dragons." _

_And Harry knew where they were-in Romania, most likely learning about dragons from Ron's brother, Charlie. He had put all this together on the ride to Hogwarts, and thus, didn't find that interesting. Which gave him plenty of time to smile over Ellie's voice. Even when she spoke, it gave him little heart attacks. It was when something different happened than normal that caught his attention. First of all, her father, whom normally came home around this time, was sitting on the couch, looking old, and cold, and worn. Her mother was cooking, like always, but was silent. And Ellie, well, as Harry approached, he realized her eyes weren't shining anymore, and she wasn't playing the piano this time. _

_Harry soon found out why. There was a bang and something broke outside, but neither Ellie's mother or father got up to investigate. Then, their door flew open, and again, neither parent moves. Harry yelled out, "GET UP! DEFEND HER!" But he knew they couldn't hear him. It was when two Death Eaters were walking in that Ellie's mother threw a curse at them. Harry understood why; because they were trying to catch their invaders off guard before attacking them. Or, letting them enter the house and trap them. Because all the doors closed and all the windows suddenly closed, and Harry heard Ellie's mother yell, "You won't get out alive, now! Not without one of us letting you out!" They were, Harry saw, sacrificing themselves for the sake of the war, to kill any Death Eater they could get their hands on. This is why, Harry found out, no one made a move. _

_He heard Ellie's father say, "Get behind here, dear." To his daughter, and Ellie hid behind the large piano, but he could see her watching the fight unfold. He saw that one of them was the famous Bellatrix Lestange, and the other was a man Harry had never seen before, but he heard Dumbledore say, "Amycus." quietly. Harry would have asked, he would have screamed for Dumbledore to explain who this person was, but he didn't get a chance, for he was dumbstruck by the scene before him. _

_"Avada Kedavra!" Said Bellatrix, and Harry watched as Ellie watched in horror, her father dying right before her. _

_Harry thought that, for aurors, Ellie's parents were a little slow on their attacks. But then he saw Ellie's father turn from his daughter and throw a curse at Amycus, the same as the one that killed his wife, and killed the Death Eater. This shocked Harry, and he was going to ask if aurors were allowed to use the Unforgivable Curses, but from the look on Dumbledore's face, and the gleaming hatred in Bellatrix's eyes, they were not. Bellatrix tried to curse Ellie's father, but he blocked it and yelled, "Ellie! Go upstairs!" But Bellatrix saw this, and performed the Cruciatus curse upon the young woman. Harry yelled "NO!" at the same time her father did. _

_"Hiding her away, were you?" Bellatrix yelled, "Hiding your children from Hogwarts? Didn't trust Dumbledore to protect them! Lot good that did, huh?"_

_"Let her go!" Yelled Ellie's father, as he threw another curse to Bellatrix. _

_But Bellatrix had already let Ellie go, and was shooting a Killing Curse to Ellie's father. He was dead instantly. _

_Ellie was still laying on the ground next to her now dead father when she came through. She jumped up from where she was and stared at the laughing Bellatrix. Grabbing her father's wand, the wand that Harry noticed she was using at Hogwarts, she threw a Killing Curse to Bellatrix. This shocked Harry the most-An underaged wizard performing the Killing Curse? Though, Harry had to admit, the circumstances stood for it. _

_Bellatrix only laughed at the young girl, as she Disarmed Ellie, and said, "Your precious precious parents will never hear you sing again." _

_Ellie, her eyes wet, her cheeks pink, ran to the wall of the room and opened a drawer in an old wardrobe. She pulled out a little shot gun, an old one, that Harry could guess was from the 50's at the newest. Bellatrix only laughed-Obviously, Harry though, Bellatrix didn't know what a gun was. Ellie aimed the weapon at Bellatrix's head, gaining more laughter, and shot the gun three times. Once for every memory Harry had seen. And Harry watched, with shock and satisfaction, Bellatrix's head burst into bloody bits, and the body fall down to the floor. _

_Then he watched, pain seeping through him, as Ellie sank to her knees, and started to cry. And Harry felt worse than before. Not only because her parents were dead, but she had broken wizarding law, and killed two people. On top of that, she would have to sit among the dead corpses around her, until her brothers arrived the following night._


	3. Chapter 3

Harry had felt a tug on his arm, and Dumbledore was throwing him out of the Pensieve and into his office. Harry felt his heart about to jump through his skin at the scene displayed before him. No wonder Ellie didn't speak. What use would it be? When her parents weren't going to.

Harry had also forgotten that Ellie was waiting for them in the office, and turned to see Ellie standing stock still, next to the confused Fawkes, her lips pressed tight, and tears falling down her face so rapidly that it woud have been futile for her to try to wipe them away. Harry instantly stepped away from the Pensieve and pulled her into his arms tightly, holding her close, and letting her bury her head in his chest and sob loudly.

The next day at breakfast, Harry didn't tell Hermione and Ron about what he saw in the Pensieve that night before. He didn't much talk to Ellie either. She only sat still most of the meal, looking at her food, but not eating. Her jaw, normally soft and pink, was tense and pale. Her eyes were bloodshot and tired looking. Alden and Russell walked over in the middle of the meal, however, and became tense when they saw the state of their sister. Grabbing Harry roughly by the upper arm, Alden dragged him out to the Enterence Hall with Russell.

"What on earth happened to her?" Russell bit out in clenched teeth.

"I…Well..Nothing!" Harry stuttered, "Nothing happened! She gave us three memories and we watched them."

"Then why is she acting like that?" Russell asked, "Why won't she eat?"

"Ask her!" Harry said.

Alden got very close to Harry's face, a snarl upon his face, and said, "Well. We can't really do that, can we?" And he and his brother walked away.

Harry watched as they approached Ellie at the Gryffindor table and bid her to follow them, and as they passed Harry for the second time, Alden and Russell both glared at Harry, and Ellie only smiled at him sadly.

For the rest of the day, Harry only paid attention to his classes halfheartedly. He had finally told Hermione and Ron what had happened and what he saw in the memories, and finally, how Russell and Alden reacted to Ellie's mood.

"There's nothing to worry about, Harry, they're just being protective."

"You didn't see them, Hermione. They looked like they'd rather have me dead."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She insisted, and stuck her nose back into the book she was reading before she was interrupted by the fretting of her best friend.

Classes went as normal from then on, with Harry on the edge, and it was at dinner when he saw Ellie again. She was already sitting at the table by herself, reading her potions book, and waiting for her classmates to come into the Great Hall. Harry rushed to her and sat down, "Ellie! Are you alright? Are your brothers really that mad?"

But Ellie only smiled at him blankly before going back to reading. Hermione and Ron followed him and sat down across from the two of them, listening intently. But Ellie didn't reply. She only just read her book. "Harry…" Hermione said gently, "I think she'll just need some time."

Harry glanced at Hermione and then down at Ellie, nodded, and scooted a little bit away from her. And the rest of the dinner went quietly.

The next couple of weeks went as routine. Harry was allowed to be around Ellie by Russell and Alden, but they kept a close watch upon him. Harry tried to explain to the both of them that it was Dumbledore who asked her to relinquish her memories and not Harry, but they didn't listen. It was easier to be mad at Harry than it would be on Dumbledore. But Alden and Russell still treated him well, most likely on the request of their sister, and often said hello and patted him on the shoulder. In the end, Russell just said it was protectiveness and the fact that it's Ellie's first year of schooling that angered he and his brother the most, to not take it personally, and to be more careful in the future. Then Alden even went to explain that Harry was an extension of the two brothers, and should try to protect her when they couldn't. They had simply expected more out of him.

Ellie was kind to Harry, at least. She smiled at him once again, would sit down next to him, and often stole his ingredients in Potions class. Not that he minded in the least. It had become a joke between the two of them; Ellie would forget something or another and Harry would be the one she'd ask to borrow it. With her eyes, never her voice, of course, and that's what bothered Harry the most. He had already heard her voice and her singing while in the Pensieve, and he wanted nothing more than to hear it once more. But he knew that it would be unwise to try to pry it out of her. Not with Russell and Alden watching him.

Hermione had taken a liking to Ellie as well. They spent a lot of their free time in the library together, to which they would exchange answers and some how work out the very best to write down for their assignments. All of this silently; Hermione had built a type of systematic rapport with Ellie. Mainly out of hand gestures.

Another thing that happened during these two weeks were Quidditch tryouts. Particularly, Gryffindor's, in which Harry was captain. So on the day of tryouts, and after must frustration with the random girls that came to "tryout", Harry finally named Ron his keeper and wanted to call it a day. That is, until he saw Ellie sitting in the stands with Hermione. He waved, and she smiled and waved back at him.

* * *

Another chapter down. :) Hope you're liking it! Please tell me what you think!

"OI! Potter!"

And Harry turned to see Alden and the Slytherin team approaching. Ron groaned, "Great."

Alden came lofting over with the team, already in a uniform. Harry wasn't surprised, for Slytherin had their tryouts a couple of days before. They were here to practice. When Alden approached, he shook Harry's hand and said, "How'd the tryouts go?"

"Good. Fine." Harry said, smiling up at him. For he was much taller. "Ron's our keeper."

"Ha!" Came the snark from one of the other Slytherin members, "Weasley is our king! Ha! He won't be able to save anything!"

"Hey." Alden said sternly, "Don't be rude." And he turned back to Harry with a grin, "Ellie came to watch you, I see. She's doing alright, then?"

"Yeah. She's spending a lot of time with Hermione right now."

"Studying, sure. The only other one that's smarter than her is Russell. She desperately wants to dance and sing again, I suspect. The only thing she can do is study now. Before going insane, I'm sure."

Harry nodded, "Yeah. She had a pretty voice."

Alden stopped, and gave him quite the look, "You…heard it? She showed memories of her singing?"

"She..was singing right before the Death Eaters attacked your house…"

"Bloody hell…" Alden said, but his thoughts were interrupted by one of his teammates.

"Hey! Alden! We need to practice! Gotta get these scum off the field!"

"Would you stop that?" Alden said, glancing back at the Slytherins, "Just because they're another team doesn't mean you have to act like _that._" The rest of the team seemed to shrink back at him, mainly because he was a lot bigger than the most of them, "Be a gentlemen and don't interrupt."

"Listen, Alden, we have to get going to dinner anyway." Harry said, "The first match is between Gryffindor and Slytherin. We just want to keep the field tomorrow to practice."

"Not if we get a note from Snape." Sneered someone behind Alden.

But Alden ignored him, "Have you booked it?"

"Yes."

"Then it's yours tomorrow." He turned to his team, "Come on. Let's get started. See ya, mate." And he started to walk away, his team not having any other choice but to follow.

"Wow." Ron whispered next to Harry, "It's nice knowing a Slytherin…"

"He's captain." Harry said, looking at the back of his robe, "How did he become captain?"

"Slytherin didn't have a captain during tryouts. They voted on Alden." Ron explained while they walked into the locker room. "They're being nice to you now?"

"I think they've always been…nice. Like, gentlemen." Harry said, while he peeled off his robe, "But they were angry."

"Not so much, anymore, if Alden's willing to stick up for you."

"Yeah.." Harry said, and he had to admit, it was nice to not have a mortal enemy in Slytherin anymore.

Ellie and Hermione were waiting for the two of them when they emerged from the dressing rooms, and Hermione immediately asked, "Why were you talking to the Slytherin team?" And Harry explained, as Ellie smiled proudly.

That night, Harry had to spend an extra three hours in the library after dinner. Because of his meetings with Dumbledore and his practices, he was falling behind. Ron was up in the Gryffindor Common Room with Hermione, trying to squeeze ideas and correct answers out of her.

So when Harry was pushed out of the library by a very disgruntled Madam Pince and started heading back to the Common Room, it was close to eight in the evening, and no one could be found in the corridors around the school. He passed by a classroom that wasn't used anymore and stopped short. Never had he heard music or sound coming out of it, but tonight, he heard classical music and loud voices reverberating inside. Harry knew he shouldn't intrude, but he couldn't help himself. Gently pressing the door open, Harry looked inside.

There was Alden and Russell, sitting next to an gramophone, and watching Ellie. She was wearing dancing clothes that Harry knew were hers, for they were bright and colorful, but he also knew that she had lost weight since wearing them last, for they were hanging off her slightly. She was dancing ballet and Harry noticed that there was a very large smile across her face.

"That's it! Hold your pose longer…" Russell said, "Keep your back straight!"

Harry pushed open the door completely and Alden noticed him. "Potter!"

At this, Ellie stopped in the middle of one of her moves, to which her leg was out behind her and she was standing on the tip of her foot. At hearing Alden, she stumbled and fell to the ground with a light thud.

"I.." Harry said, "Sorry! I just heard noise and I wondered who was here…" He looked at Ellie, who was pulling herself from the ground, "Sorry.." But Ellie only smiled in greeting and stood up straight.

"Perfect!" Russell said, pulling Harry into the room by his arm, "Ellie needs to practice her ballroom dancing and both Alden and I hate it. Mind letting her practice on you?"

"Ball room?" Harry asked, "Oh. I've had to do that. We had a Yule Ball a couple of years ago…"

"Perfect!" Russell said, changing a gramophone to the right record. "Ready, Ellie?"

And Harry waited while Ellie skipped over to him, and placed one of her hands on his shoulder and the other in his hand. Harry took her waist, and waited for the music to start. A song came on, only instrumental, and Ellie started to dance, forcing Harry to start also.

Harry was particularly happy about how light she was. He felt that instead of holding on to a girl, he was holding on to a little puff of air in the shape of a girl. She was smiling, swaying, and Harry was most certainly enjoying himself.

Russell laughed, "Well, Harry, you're a little heavy on your feet!" To which Alden roared with laughter.

"I..don't dance like this often!" Harry said over his shoulder, watching Ellie watch their feet.

"Well don't step on her now." Alden said, "We need her intact."

Harry knew they were only teasing him. In trust, he was paying more attention to Ellie. He had seen her smile during the first two weeks of the term, sure, but he had never seen her smile like she was now. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkling; Harry had only seen that smile once before. In her memories. While playing her piano.

Harry danced with Ellie well into the night under the supervision of Russell and Alden, sending out 'encouraging' comments to Harry. Since the next day was Saturday, Harry wasn't at all concerned about how late he would be staying up. So from Ball Dancing, Ellie pushed him to sit down next to Russell and Alden, and motioned for Russell to start her ballet music once again. She commenced her dancing while Harry sat, watching her.

"Pretty, isn't she?" Alden asked suddenly.

"I..uh…?"

"We can tell what you're thinking, Harry. We're guys too." Russell said.

"Oh..Well. Yes, she's gorgeous." Harry said, and he waited for one of the brothers to berate him. But neither did, they only rolled their eyes.

"Every boy thinks that." Alden said, "He have to swat them away most of the time. The only reason she's not getting as much attention here is that she won't talk."

"What does she talk like?" Harry asked. "I mean…I know what she sounds like. But what habits does she do?"

Russell looked at Harry for the first time doing their conversation, "Well." And he smiled, "You'll just have to find out for yourself."

"Bed." Alden said suddenly, jumping up from where he was sitting, "Oh, and Harry." Harry looked at him, "Let's say hypothetically my sister likes you back. Be a gentleman, okay?" And he waited while Russell stopped the music before leaving. Russell left after him, and Harry was the only one left. Ellie stopped dancing, panting, and went over to where Harry was sitting to gather her things.

Harry thought he'd strike up a conversation, "So…You enjoy dancing, then?" Ellie nodded enthusiastically, "And singing." Harry completed. She nodded again. "I.." He wasn't sure if he should say this, but he thought he'd give it a try, "I heard you singing in your memories." And Ellie's smile left her features, but Harry continued, "You have a really beautiful voice."

Ellie's cheeks flushed and she looked to the ground while shoving some clothes into her gym bag. Harry knew he had flattered her beyond compare, and said, "Why don't you sing anymore? What's holding you back?"

They had already started walking down the long corridor to the Common Room. Harry was watching Ellie, and saw that she didn't answer, but only looked sadly down at the floor before her. They finally got past the Fat Lady, who was pretty angry about their late entrance. But right before they went their separate ways, Harry said, "Hey, Ellie," Causing her to turn around, he continued, "If you ever want to say anything, I'd be happy to listen." And he watched her smile and head up to the girl's dormitories.


	4. Chapter 4

Weeks past, and it became to be one of the last warm Saturdays of the term. Harry, Hermione and Ron were walking down from the castle to bathe in the sun before they would be without it for up to three months when they saw Russell, Alden and Ellie. The boys were wearing a tight fitting t-shirt and shorts each; Ellie was wearing a tank top that was, like her dancing clothes, too big for her, and shorts that Harry didn't mind seeing. They were jogging down the path to the lake, Alden in front, Ellie in the middle, and Russell behind the both of them.

"That's weird…jogging?" Ron asked.

"They're very athletic." Hermione explained, "I heard Lavender talking about Alden. She said he said they constantly work out. To be prepared for, you know, anything."

"Why do they need to prepare themselves with running?" Ron snorted.

"So they can send curses while running." Harry said at once. It made sense. When one is running away from a scene out of fear or protection, it's hard to focus. Sending a silent curse with perfect aim while running was, as far as Harry knew, impossible. "They prepare for everything…"

"Like a boot camp!" Ron said suddenly, "Like the army!"

"They were raised like that." Hermione scolded, "Their parents were aurors!"

"Oi, Potter!" Came Alden's now well-known greeting.

Harry turned around to see that they had jogged up to meet them, a smile upon each of their faces, though Harry's eyes lingered on Ellie's soft smiled an extra second before looking at Alden and shaking hands, "Good morning."

"We're going to play a game of volleyball. We were wondering if you would like to join us."

"Volleyball?" Ron asked.

"It's a muggle came." Russell explained.

"Sure!" Harry said, "Yeah, sure, we'd love to."

"Great! Go suit up, we're going to find a couple more players. We need six more. We'll meet you down at the Quidditch pitch!"

"Sure, thanks!" Harry said, and he, Hermione and Ron started to go up the staircase. Ron fussed over the concept of volleyball all the way up the stairs and back, but Hermione shushed him violently and Harry only smiled to himself. He'd heard of volleyball before; he had to play it in primary, but it was with Dudley and his grumpy friends, and not with his friends at Hogwarts. Hopefully it would be a decent game.

When they emerged from the castle, wearing workout clothes, Harry looked around him to find that they had chosen six people by the time they got back. There were a couple of Slytherin boys that Harry didn't know, then Ginny and Cho, to Harry's amusement, and finally a couple of Ravenclaws, one girl and one boy. This made twelve people that were to be playing volleyball. Everyone was in their own clothes when Harry and the others finally approached, and the small pitch now had a volleyball net erected. Spectators who had never seen such a sport had gathered around and waited for Alden and Russell to start handing out instructions.

Harry was on the team with Russell, Ellie, one Slytherin, one Ravenclaw, and Cho. Hermione and Ron were with Alden, Ginny, and the remaining students from Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

"Alright!" Alden yelled, "In case you haven't played before-don't worry, Weasley-we'll explain it. The goal is to get the ball to touch the ground on your opponent's side. One person can only hit the ball once, and you can not touch the net. No magic! And you serve behind the line. Ellie, you start!"

So Ellie took the white ball from her brother and went to the back of the court. Ron snuffed, "She's too far away!"

But Ellie tossed the ball into the air, and with a violent smack, it flew into the air and aimed right for Ron. Ron, covering his face, fell to the ground and Alden had to jump forward to save it. Chuckling, Alden said, "It's not power, it's physics." And jogged over to the other side of the court.

This went as follows: Alden and Russell dominated each team, yelling out commands and praising the other players. Harry observed them with amusement, as did the spectators, who included many teachers by then, including Dumbledore. Ellie, on the other hand, silently weaved between players and popped the ball into the air when she felt the other person couldn't do it. It wasn't hard for Harry and the others to pick up; it was somewhat like Quidditch. It involved the same muscles and beating as Harry's favorite sport. The only person who really seemed to be having a lot of difficulty was Hermione, who never played any sport before.

Harry noticed something wonderful during this game as well: Though she was skinnier than she had been in her memories, Ellie had a nice bum. This became evident for Harry when she was waiting for Alden to hit the ball over to his side, and she was standing in front of Harry. She would crouch down, bend her knees, and prepare herself to spring into action at any notice, with her fists balled up in front of her. Harry saw, however, her bum pushed out and her swaying her body before him.

Harry was especially proud of Ellie when she would intervene in front of someone. Respectfully, of course, it was normally Cho she took over for. (Cho being a Seeker, not a Beater, and would often cower in front of the ball.) Ellie would let out a small huff to indicate her presence, and it held a natural dominance over the team, for they instantly backed off to let her take it. Her place in Gryffindor was evident.

It was 20/20 at the moment, with the game ending at 21. It was Alden's serve, and the ball had been going back and forth between the two teams for a bit now. Finally, Ellie jumped up to the net and violently spiked the ball onto the ground on the other side, causing her and Harry's team to win. There was a chorus of good natured cheers and Russell ran over to Ellie to compliment her. Harry overheard him say, "You're lucky they're bad at this game, someone could have easily rebounded that spike. You'll practice your angles?"

"I thought it was brilliant." Harry said as he approached her. Ellie simply smiled at him.

That night at dinner, Harry noticed something wonderful about Hogwarts. People of other Houses were flitting around the tables, talking to each other. He saw one of the Gryffindor's speaking at the same two Slytherins who had played on the volleyball court. Harry smiled to himself and looked at Ellie as she came into the Great Hall with her brothers. Ron leaned over, "We noticed you were getting a pretty decent look at Ellie today."

Harry felt his cheeks catch on fire, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't have to." Ron smirked, "Hermione knows what I'm talking about." But the girl just squeaked and hid behind her book once more, not wanting to be a part of the conversation.

Dinner went well. Harry spoke to Ellie majority of the night, trying to ignore the stares and giggles from his friends at the Gryffindor table. But Ellie would smile at him anyway. She'd nod, motion out a reply, and often if Harry guessed the wrong thing, she would burst into a fit of giggles along with the people around him. It was fun. Embarrassing, but fun nonetheless.

The next day, though, Hermione rushed over to Harry at breakfast, her face flushed and she was breathing hard. "Harry!" She whispered urgently, "It's about Ellie!"

"Yeah?"

"She started talking in her sleep last night." She said.

Harry smiled, "She has a beautiful voice, doesn't she?"

But Hermione gave him a very stern look, "It wasn't happy talking, Harry. She was whispering 'no no no' and rolling around on the bed. She was having a nightmare!"

"Oh.." Yeah, that wasn't happy.

"You should tell her brothers, Harry." Hermione said, "I would but, you know, I don't think they trust me like they trust you."

"Yeah, sure." Harry said absently, "Yeah, I'll tell them." And he started heading to the Ravenclaw table, where both of Ellie's brothers were sitting together. Upon approaching, Alden looked up and smiled, but Harry cut him off before he could say 'Oi! Potter!' "Uh, guys, can I speak to you a moment?"

"…Is it about Ellie?" Russell asked.

"Yeah. Over here? Won't take long." Harry said. Russell and Alden both hopped up from where they were sitting and followed Harry to the corner. Once they were out of earshot, Harry said, "Hermione told me that last night, Ellie yelled out in her sleep. She kept saying 'no.' She said Ellie was having a nightmare…"

"Oh shoot.." Alden said.

But Russell was more articulate, "This is common. She's having a nightmare about what happened when our parents died."

"Well." Harry said, "I'll guess I'll just leave you two to-"

"Us two?" Alden said.

"No." Russell continued, "You'll be talking to her."

"What? Me?" Harry said, "But you're her brothers!"

Russell nodded, "Yeah, but we don't have experience in nightmares and trauma. You do. If anyone's going to comfort Ellie, it's going to be you."

"And we noticed you staring at her ass during the volleyball game, too." Alden said quickly, causing Harry to shiver with fear, "So don't try anything while you're…'comforting' her." Harry swallowed hard and was about to explain himself, but Alden and Russell didn't give him a chance. They left him, standing in the corner by himself, to debate how he was going to 'comfort' Ellie.

Ron found his predicament most amusing, Hermione did not. And in it's rarity, Harry agreed with Hermione. He did not find this fun at all.

But he had to do it. He was the only one in the entire school that understood her. Watching someone die in front of them, losing their parents, becoming isolated, nightmares; it was all his forte. So when he and Ellie both had a free period, he snatched her out of the hallway, making up the excuse that he had forgotten something in a classroom and he didn't want to go alone because he was sure Snape was after him. Ellie bought it and followed him obediently.

Harry, instead, took her to led her to the first viaduct just outside. Ellie bundled up into her cloak and scarf and didn't complain, so Harry led her to one of the archways and motioned for her to sit down before he, too, took a seat next to her. "I lied about forgetting someone in the classroom." Harry suddenly said, but when he looked at her, she had a sarcastic face of surprise planted on her. Chuckling to himself, Harry said, "Yeah, I know. I'm a bad liar. Sorry about that." He looked at her again, "Hermione told me you spoke in your sleep last night."

At this, Ellie blinked at him questioningly, and her cheeks started to fluster. Harry quickly said, "It's nothing to be ashamed of! Russell and Alden already know, too." Ellie's face showed more disdain, which Harry countered, "But it's fine! No one is freaking out too bad. We just worry, that's all."

Harry reached over and straightened her scarf for her, but he was really just trying to find something to do while he waited for the next thing he was going to say. Ellie was watching him intently. Finally, Harry said, "I have nightmares too." He looked her in the eyes, aware of how close he was to her now, "I have a lot, actually. Most of them about Voldemort. I sometimes see into his mind…"

Ellie stared at him even more intently now, her eyes flitting back and forth to his own, and every once in a while, glancing down at his hand that was still on the knot of her scarf. Harry continued, "They're not fun. Nightmares. Alden and Russell thought it best if I talked about them with you. Since, you know, I've been through them already. Did you dream about your parents?"

Ellie shook her head.

"You didn't?" Harry asked gently, pulling his hand away from her scarf and furrowing his brows at her, "Who did you dream about?"

Ellie pointed at Harry.

"…Me?"

She nodded, but then pointed back to the castle behind him, then back to him, and back to the castle again. Harry thought for a moment, then said, "Me and…Hogwarts?"

She shrugged, as to say, 'close…' but then started to pointed again. To herself now, then Harry, then the school again. Harry caught on. "The students." And she nodded.

"You're scared here, aren't you?"

She shook her head defiantly. She then pointed out to the vast scene before them, Hogsmeade making a small dot at the top of her finger. Then she looked at Harry. Harry said, "You're scared of…The world?"

Ellie huffed and glared at him.

"I..uh…um.." Harry squinted to where her hand was pointing, "You're…worried." She nodded. "Worried about…the school being attacked?" And finally, she smiled brightly and nodded.

"Oh..Ellie, Hogwarts is the safest place on the earth. Other than the Ministry of Magic, and I've learned that it's safer still. You don't need to worry about someone getting into the castle…You're protected."

Ellie pulled him so that Harry was looking her square in the eye. Once she had Harry's undivided attention, she pointed to herself.

"You."

Then she shook her head and waved her hands in a negative fashion.

"Don't…don't want…"

And finally, she pointed at him, and the school, again.

"You don't want…me?" Harry felt his heart sink a little bit.

Ellie stopped suddenly and stared at him, bewildered. She gasped suddenly, as though apologizing, and shook her head. She started over again. She pointed to herself, then shook her head, then to only the school and not Harry.

Harry felt even worse. "You don't want to be here?"

She squeaked sadly and gave him a desperate look. Pleading. Harry shook his own head, "I'm sorry, Ellie. I don't understand."

Swallowing hard, Ellie leaned close to him, like she was about to tell a secret. Harry watched her closely; she pointed to herself and waited until Harry said, "You." Then she made the shaking of her head motions once again, and waited until Harry said, "..do not want…"

And then, Ellie rung her neck with her hands and pretended to be getting hurt, flailing her arms and showing pain on her face. Harry understood, "You don't want someone getting hurt.." He processed, "You don't want the students getting hurt..." And she pointed at herself, "..because of you..."

Another chapter down. :) Tell me what you think!

Harry stopped thinking outloud, though, and looked at her intently. She sure looked pretty in winter, Harry noticed. Her cheeks constantly pink, her nose too, and how she let out a little puff of air when she was trying to explain something. Harry just couldn't stop watching her.

Harry was pulled out of this thoughts when he made eye contact with Ellie once again. Quietly, Harry said, "You saved lives by killing those Death Eaters. And it's not you that will be the reason why someone gets harm. It's Voldemort." Harry swallowed hard and smiled sleeplessly, "And…you really do have a beautiful voice…I forgot to tell you when we saw your memory. You sang beautifully..."

Ellie was blushing now, her pout lips hanging open in surprise. Harry again placed his hand on the knot of her scarf, but not to straighten it, only to slowly pull her closer to him. Ellie moved automatically forward, and Harry smiled because he saw her smile. Closing the gap between them, Harry gingerly pressed his lips against her own. They were soft, for they hadn't been used for months, and warm, because she was warm. Harry felt her place her hands upon his chest and he wrapped an arm around her protectively, and he marveled at how fragile she felt, for someone who had been through what she had. He savored her. Every second of the long kiss, every movement she made, ever little flutter of her hair, he noted. And finally, when he couldn't breath anymore, Harry pulled away.

Ellie was smiling and blushing but she wasn't looking at Harry, she was staring down at her small hands. Harry took them in his own and noticed how cold they were, so he said, "We should head back inside. Dinner'll be soon."

Ellie nodded and looked up at Harry, her eyes twinkling happily. Harry smiled back at her, and grabbing her hand a little more firmly, he lead her back inside, hoping Alden and Russell wouldn't find out about how he...'comforted' her. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Oi! Potter!"

Harry cringed. He had tried desperately to avoid both Alden and Russell for the next couple of days, but he knew that both brothers noticed. Which is why Alden had called him out in the middle of the corridor and trotted up to him, slamming him on the back in front of the other students. Harry couldn't get away now.

In the mean time, Harry had become very content with Ellie. They hadn't kissed again; Harry knew he couldn't risk it. Kissing in the Common Room wasn't an option, for Hermione and Ron were sure to notice him snogging the silent girl in the corner. Harry hadn't informed either of them because he knew Hermione would scold him worse of all; Ron would just chuckle at him. Much to his delight, he found himself brushing his hand against Ellie's at random moments, being pressed against her during dinner, and when they made eye contact, she would smile happily at him.

Now, however, all the happiness he had been feeling in the past week was gone. Alden was leading him out into the chilly weather with his hand pushing Harry's back. Russell somehow showed up around Alden as well, for he manifested himself right next to Alden once they had made it out to one of the corners of the courtyard. Alden started, "Ellie seems happy." He said, a sly smile across his face.

"Uh…Yeah." Harry said quietly, "She seems…well."

"We haven't been told of any nightmares." Russell said, "What did you say to her, anyway?"

"Erm..well…" Harry said slowly, trying to find anything else to look at than the two twins towering over him, "Just..you know. That she was safe at Hogwarts and everything."

"She blushes." Alden started, "Every time I talk about you. She blushes."

Harry blinked at the both of them, heat rising in his face. "Oh..wow..Um…"

"Harry, stop being so nervous. We're not going to kill you for liking our sister." Alden said, gaining a bit of a stern look from Russell, yet he continued, "Mate, we want Ellie to be happy. We want her to sing again. Just don't ruin her progress, will you?"

Harry didn't speak. He only stared in fear and shock at the two brothers. Alden and Russell seemed to think that the conversation was over, for they both coughed awkwardly and started to walk away, but Harry said, "I kissed her." And they both stopped and turned around to look at Harry. Alden's face was twisted in confusion and shock, Russell was calculating. "I kissed her." Harry said again, the inside of his stomach turning to ice, "I like her. A lot. And…I think she might like me too." Harry paused and looked intently at the two brothers, "Why aren't you angry?"

"Well. You blew it last time we trusted you." Alden said sternly, his brow slightly ruffled.

"We're giving you another chance, Harry." Russell said, "Don't screw it up." And he and his brother turned on their heels and left Harry standing in the cold.

The first Quidditch game was scheduled to be that Saturday. Harry was most excited, for it was his first year as captain and he knew that all the Gryffindors seemed to be banking on him presenting a winning team. The morning of the game, a lot of the other students walked up to Harry to wish him luck. Most were fellow Gryffindors, a couple were Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs, but what Harry found most notable was when Alden approached him during breakfast. Wearing his captain robes that were identical to Harry's, but different colors, Alden extended his hand and shook Harry's. "Good luck today, mate. Playing fair?"

Harry smiled, "Always do." And Alden returned his smile and walked away to the Slytherin team.

Harry shook his head and sat down next to Ellie, who smiled brightly at him, and seemed to be wishing him luck as well. "Thanks." Harry said, and she nodded and went back to eating her own meal.

Hermione had arranged for Ellie to sit with her during the game, and Ellie complied, and followed Hermione down to the same pitch that they played volleyball the week before. It was already snowing, but Harry didn't mind. It was clear and he was sure that his team would be able to handle the chill of the air. Walking down to the pitch with Ron and Ginny, Harry glanced over at Ellie and Hermione in front of them and said gently to his friends, "Just wait." And hurried to go catch up.

"Ellie, can I speak with you a moment?" Harry asked kindly, and she nodded automatically before giving Hermione an asking look. Hermione just nodded and sped up to catch up to some of the other Gryffindors.

Harry gently pressed his hand on her back to lead her to the side of the path. Smiling at her questing face, Harry reached into his Quidditch cloak and pulled out a pair of brown gloves, "I noticed you didn't have any…" He mumbled, handing them over. Ellie gave him an amused face. "Now, don't make fun of me!" Harry scolded, but after watching her put on the gloves and smile at him, he stepped a bit closer, "Wish me luck?" Ellie giggled softly and looked at the ground before here bashfully, but nodded. Harry bent down and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed deeper, but Harry didn't have the chance to relish it for long.

"Good snog, Potter?" Came the sharp and cold voice from behind him.

Harry spun around and glared at Malfoy, "At least someone of the opposite gender likes me." Harry smirked, "And Pansy doesn't count. Now if you'll excuse Ellie and I, we have a Quidditch game to go to." And he grabbed Ellie by the hand and led her away from the now fuming Draco. He wasn't sure where his retort came from, or that if it was possible for him to come up with something that clever, but he liked it. And he also liked having Ellie holding his hand.

When he left Ellie to catch up with Hermione, Harry ran up to the changing rooms to address his team. "Well, guys, uh..good luck?"

"Noticed you got a little good luck charm up there." Ron chuckled, causing the rest of the team to snigger as well. Harry didn't get the chance to scold him for his comment, for Madam Hooch had knocked on the door with a 'Time to go!' and he had to lead his team outside.

The game went a lot better than Harry had expected. Alden played fair, much to Harry's delight and, he bet, Malfoy's annoyance. A couple of the Slytherins attempted to play dirty, but instantly was shot down by Alden, and the rest of the game went smoothly. Harry caught the snitch when it was 60 to 50; Slytherin lead. But Gryffindor won, and Harry was greeted with loud yells and praise from his fellow classmates.

That night Gryffindor had a party for Ron and Harry; Ron because of his new Keeping skills and Harry for catching the snitch. Harry appreciated this, but what he really wanted was to see what Ellie thought. However, he couldn't find her. Glancing around the Common Room one more time, Harry walked up to Hermione, "Where's Ellie?"

"Hmm?" Hermione was in the middle of congratulating Ron and trying to keep him away from Lavender. Harry asked again. "Oh..Um..Well..I lost her. I assumed she went to see her brothers."

"I'm going to go find her.." Harry mumbled, walking away from Hermione and the party to search.

The corridor was completely empty when he left the Common Room, after being scolded by The Fat Lady at his timing. He had two options: The Ravenclaw or the Slytherin Common Rooms. Considering that her brother just lost his first Quidditch game at Hogwarts, Harry would assume that she was down at the Slytherin Common Room, consoling her brother. So he started to head down to the dungeons to find her.

It was a long walk, coming from Gryffindor to Slytherin, but he eventually started to descend the reluctantly familiar staircase down to not only his destination but also Snape's office. He stopped suddenly, however, when he heard, "What's the matter? You liked Potter just fine!"

Harry flushed with anger and pulled out his wand, inching forward to peek around the corner of the wall. He could only see the back of a certain blonde boy, crouching down to speak softly to someone else. Draco's hands were placed on either side of his victim. Draco spoke again, "Come on…" And Harry saw Draco lean even more forward. Harry whipped himself out from behind the wall and started to creep towards Draco's back. He caught a glimpse of Ellie. She was pressed against the corner of the wall, her face turned away from Draco, her hands covering her mouth. Obviously, Draco was trying to "persuade" her to choose him instead, and when it started to fail, he had become more forceful.

Ellie whimpered from under Draco, to which he leaned closer, and said, "You're really pretty you know…I wonder if your voice is as pretty as your face..and your body. Tell me, will you yell out for help?" He leaned closer.

Raging with anger and bitterness, Harry raised his wand and yelled, "STUPEFY!"

Draco's lanky body shot away from Ellie and collided with the wall. At seeing it was Harry, Ellie whimpered loudly and rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest, shaking her head. Harry was breathing hard and squeezing Ellie closer to him.

At the sound of someone yelling a spell and a thud, Slytherins started to come from the Common Room behind Harry. Alden was the first to approach them. "What happened? Ellie? I thought you went back up stairs! Potter! What the hell happened!"

"Draco had her cornered." Harry seethed out, "He was pressing her against the wall! He was trying to make her scream!"

Alden's face became hard. "Draco.." And he looked over at the unconscious body a few meters away. "Take her upstairs." He said, "Now."

Harry wanted nothing more than to comply. Grabbing Ellie gently around the waist, he started to lead her away. She was still shaken, still feeling violated, still vulnerable. "This way.." He said gently, leading her away from the way to the Common Room and to the Enterance, but turning again to lead up her one of the towers. "A little fresh air will do you good, hmm?" He continued, leading her up the Astronomy Tower. Once up there, he took off his outer cloak and placed it around her shoulders gently, then motioned her to sit down. "What happened?" He asked once they had settled, "With Draco. Did you visit your brother?"

Ellie nodded, but she wouldn't look at him.

"So you went to see Alden and see how the Slytherins were doing after their loss. That's fine." Ellie gave him a stern look for a moment, but nodded all the same. He continued, "And you left to go back upstairs." She nodded. "And then Draco…followed you out of the Common Room?"

Ellie didn't nod. She only looked forward and stared intently at the scene before her. It was a beautiful clear night, chilly, but Harry didn't mind, just like he hadn't during the Quidditch match. "I'll take that as a yes." Harry said, and he didn't say anymore about it. Silently, he picked up the cloak around her, scooted over, wrapped an arm around her waist and put the cloak over the both of them. Ellie didn't seem to mind, for she snuggled closer to him and sighed contently.

They stayed like that for a long time. Harry was sure that midnight was always upon them, but he didn't care. After along pause, to which Ellie may or may not be asleep, Harry chuckled. "You can kill two Death Eaters but when it comes to Draco Malfoy…" He shook his head, "I don't blame you. He's one scary bloke." Ellie nodded feebly. Harry leaned away from her to look her in the face, "I have a question. Why don't you talk anymore?"

Ellie blinked up at him. She seemed to be demanding him to remember some small detail, because she gave him an expected look. Harry stared at her. "What?" But Ellie huffed and rolled her eyes. Apparently he had forgotten something. Ellie then pointed at her brain, then to Harry's brain. "The memories…" And she nodded.

"You don't speak because…" He paused again. Then, something dawned upon him, "Your parents were the last person to hear you speak…" And she nodded. Why hadn't he caught that during the memory? Of course! _Your precious precious parents will never hear you sing again._

"Ellie…" Harry said gently, turning her so that she faced him properly, "You know. My parents never heard me speak. They died before I said my first word." He sighed, "I don't even know what my first word was…"

The girl before him was watching him intently, blinking only a couple of times, but overall her face was hard. Harry continued, "Over the years here at Hogwarts, I've learned to just…keep going. You know, I still miss them. But if I dwell on it, if I give up, then I wouldn't be honoring their sacrifice. Your parents, like mine, protected you until their deaths." He noticed that tears were falling from her eyes and she was breathing hallow breaths. "Ellie…" He said, as he cupped her cheeks in his hand and started to whip away the tears that seemed to keep falling, "You don't have to now. You don't have to speak right now. But you can't give up, you know? You can't admit defeat." He smiled softly, "And, you know, I bet your parents were happy to hear your voice just one more time before they left you." And Ellie hiccupped.

Harry leaned down to her and kissed her forehead, which she leaned in to and sighed sadly. Harry could have started crying for her, but he didn't. She didn't need him blubbering over his parents too.

When all was said and done, Harry led her back to the Gryffindor Tower for bed. Before she went upstairs, though, Ellie turned around and smiled at Harry. Her tears were long gone by that point, and though they were slightly red, they still looked beautiful and bright when she smiled. Stepping close to Harry, to which he welcomed, she hopped onto the toes of her feet and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. She pulled away before he could reply to her, and quietly, he said, "Goodnight." And she retreated back into the girls' dormitories.

* * *

Another chapter down. :3 Hope you liked it!


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Harry was very happy to notice that Draco appeared to breakfast with a very black eye and a fat lip. Alden must have let him have it. Russell, who was no where to be found the night before, had heard about it from his brother and fellow Ravenclaws at the breakfast table, and went right to Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn for a "conversation."

Ellie was fine. She smiled brightly when Harry came to sit down next to her, ate her food, and then hopped off to class with Harry. And for the rest of the year actually, Draco didn't approach Ellie. Something that Russell said, or what Alden did, seemed to deter him enough to stay far away from Ellie, and since Harry and Ellie became almost inseparable, that meant that Harry hardly ever got pestered by Draco again.

It snowed some more, there was Christmas, in which Harry spent his at the Burrow. Alden told him the day before everyone was due to leave Hogwarts that he, Ellie and Russell would be staying at Hogwarts. But Ellie found him later in the day and gave him a kiss and a small parcel that had, "Open me on Christmas!" written upon it in cursive. Harry, instead, got her a Christmas dress; red with gold trimming. He had asked Alden and Russell for her dress size.

On Christmas morning, Harry opened everyone elses' gifts first; he got his normal from the Weasleys. A jumper from Molly, jokes from the twins, and chocolate from everyone else, really. Especially Lupin.

"I hear you have a little something going on with someone at school, Harry." Lupin mentioned offhandedly.

"Maybe."

Lupin looked up from where he was observing his food, "Ellie, her name is."

"Yeah." Harry said, and he couldn't help but smile at the spell book that Ellie had gotten for him. It was a history book of aurors that was her father's, and inscribed by each was an autograph of the auror. Even Tonks' was in it. While drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies with Lupin, Harry had shown him the book.

"I remember signing that!" Tonks has said, "He said he wanted to give it to his daughter, said she wanted to be an auror…I never put two and two together…And she gave it to you…"

"Yeah." Harry said, "I wonder why…"

And then the group went back to Hogwarts. Everyone was reluctant, of course, for this meant that they were going back to their exams and school work. But Harry looked forward to it; he was going to be seeing Ellie.

It was not until near the end of the year when Draco said something to Ellie once again. Ellie still hadn't spoken; choosing sign language and writing over actually speaking. Harry didn't mind, but Hermione did. She insisted that if Ellie was to recover from the attack on her parents, she needs to speak. But Alden and Russell didn't rush their little sister; they left her in Harry's hands. He was the only one, after all, that understood her.

It was during Defense Against the Dark Arts that Draco spoke to Ellie once again. Harry was minding his way, working on his wordless spells while defending himself against Hermione and Ron, while Ellie went over to the cabinet. Draco was lingering close by, not noticed by the mute, and when she was out of earshot of Harry, Draco mumbled, "Still a little scarred, hmm? I've noticed you still haven't spoken."

Ellie's head shot up and she glared at Draco. She turned around and noticed that Harry was busy; too busy to notice his Hogwarts enemy.

"Just watch out, Ellie." Draco sneered happily; Ellie had shivered when she looked back at him. "You'll be seeing the Death Eaters again." And with that, and another glare, Draco strutted off.

That was because a couple of weeks later, Draco had let the Death Eaters into the castle. Harry had been off with Dumbledore to he cave in order to get Riddle's locket. Seeing the Dark Mark floating over the castle was Harry's worst dread. What if Hermione and Ron were the ones whom the Mark was for? Or even Ellie?

Harry had flown into the castle and was standing there, paralyzed, and under the Invisibility Cloak, as he watched Snape kill Dumbledore. And Harry knew what he had to do; he had to go find Snape and get revenge. So he ran into the castle and started following the train left by the Death Eaters.

"OI! Potter! What the hell is going on?"

"Get Ellie out of here." Harry said roughly, while walking down the corridor. "I need to find Snape."

"We can't get into the Gryffindor Common Room…" Alden said, but Harry shook his head and walked on. He just couldn't deal with where Ellie was or what Alden thought. His favorite teacher, his personal grandfather, was dead. The last thing he needed to worry about was whether she was alright, though, he secretly wanted to make sure she was, he knew he had more important things to worry about. At the moment, though, he needed to find Snape.

Harry ran all the way outside of the castle to follow Snape and the rest of the Death Eaters, Malfoy with them. "Snape!" Harry screamed, "He trusted you!" And Harry tried to cast a curse. But Snape easily pushed it away, throwing Harry back against the ground. Harry got up and tried again, and again, Snape brushed him away, and this time, came up to smirk down at Harry, informing him that he was the Half Blood Prince.

Crawling up from where he was laying, Harry watched as the Death Eaters disappeared into the forbidden forest, leaving the rest of the Hogwarts students behind to defend themselves against the remaining Death Eaters.

It was then that while Harry was pulling himself up, he heard from the distance a cry and someone running towards him.

"Harry!" They yelled.

Harry sighed and kept crawling, knowing that it would take him some time before he was able to stand up and run around the castle once again. But then he stopped when he heard his name being called out for the second time. Why did it sound familiar, but then again, not familiar?

"Harry! Harry!"

It was sweet. Like that of an angel. It was actually…supposed to not be working.

"Harry!"

Despite the pain that was shooting through him from Snape's last curse, Harry rose from the ground and watched as Ellie came running to him. When he was sure that she'd seen him, he fell to the ground and laid on his back. She was wearing her white nightgown and almost tripped when she saw him laying on the ground before her. Her wand was in her hand and there was blood splattered across her gown, however, Harry thought happily, it wasn't her own. "Ellie.."

"Harry." Ellie breathed out and she fell to her knees to look down at him. Her eyes were almost in tears. "We've all been so worried…"

"You're speaking…"

"Yes." She said, "I needed to find you…"

And Harry agreed. Hadn't he heard her voice and had been so attracted to it, he wouldn't have attempted to stand up, and then, been noticed. Harry smiled, "It's beautiful. Always has been."

"My throat hurts already…" She said innocently.

Harry smiled and reached up to brush her hair. "I'm glad you're safe…"

"Mmmm…" Ellie said in agreement. And Harry gently pulled her down from the intersection of her jaw and kissed her. Her lips were quivering, because of the cold, but against his own they felt warm.

Harry pulled away and looked at the young woman over him, "We need to leave."

"Where?"

"Get out of Hogwarts. We need to get you and your brothers somewhere safe."

"…And you're leaving?"

"I have something to do." Harry said softly, "And…we won't be able to be together…"

Ellie leaned away from him, which Harry found was the perfect time for him to sit up and look at her. She was looking at the deep darkness of the forest before him. Harry leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Ellie…Promise me something."

"Hmm?"

"Never stop speaking."

Ellie looked at him with tears at the edge of her eyes, "I'll keep speaking."

"Ellie…" Harry said, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Ellie leaned away from him, surprised by his question, but she answered, "I wanted to be an auror for a while. But now, I think I might be a teacher…"

Harry smiled and kissed her jaw line, "Music." And he felt her nod.

Dumbledore's funeral was worse than Cedrics, Harry thought, as he sat next to Hermione and Ron. Ellie, Alden and Russell were sitting closer to the back, for they had not known Dumbledore as well as the others did. But before going out into the large crowd, Harry had embraced Ellie sadly. She wasn't crying, she didn't know Dumbledore very well, but he was so close, and all he wanted was to feel the hope that was shivering in his arms from the cold of the lake. She had whispered in his ear, "Be strong…"

"I'll be leaving today." He said after the funeral was over and he was saying goodbye to the fellow students of the school. Ellie and her brothers were standing before Harry, watching him fight back his anger, "Where will you guys be going?"

"We're going home." Alden said, "It'll just be us three, I suppose…"

"Be safe." Harry said gently, "Keep her safe.."

"Keep all of us safe, Harry." Russell said.

"Good luck, mate." Alden said, and the two brothers walked away to leave the funeral. Harry could only hope that he'd see them again. That he'd see Ellie again.

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Another chapter down. Sorry it's been taking so long...Hope you still like it!


	7. Chapter 7

"Ellie! Come out here and get this, will you?" Alden yelled from outside.

Ellie had been standing at the kitchen window, mindlessly scrubbing a pan that had most certainly been clean for the past ten minutes. But her mind wondered off, as it always did, watching the sky above her.

Behind her, Russell was writing a letter at the kitchen table.

"Ellie!" Came Alden's cry again, and Ellie dropped the pan to rush outside.

The air of the English countryside was always refreshing. The sky was a dark grey, overcast, due to it being spring once again. There was a soft midst that was covering the bright green meadows around the small cottage owned by the Davis children, living alone, in their childhood house.

Alden sniffed heavily, due to the weight he was carrying, and let one of the shopping bags from Diagon Alley fall from his shoulder, and he handed it to Ellie. She took it and looked inside. "Alden!" She gasped, but he held up his hand and silenced her, before walking past her and into the house once again. Inside the bag was a new robe.

Since leaving Hogwarts, the children had been living with a budget. It was impossible, and very impractical if possible, to live off the earnings of their parents, for all the money was in Gringotts; heavily guarded by the Death Eaters. For the past year, the two brothers were actually working in the muggle world and earning a wage on pounds instead of gold, so as to stay alive. They hardly ever used magic as well. Just in case. Alden worked as a laborer for a nearby farmer and Russell was a bank teller at the village bank. Ellie, for safety sake, didn't work, and spent her time in the house.

"When's dinner ready?" Alden asked gruffly while entering the kitchen, Ellie right behind him. Russell glanced up at his brother and flicked his eyes to the stove. Alden followed it, "Ah. Stew! Perfect for a grey day."

"Any news?" Russell asked.

Alden, the strongest of the three, was the only one allowed to enter Diagon Alley, or any magical location for that matter.

"The war is over." Alden said nonchalantly. His siblings looked up quickly, but Alden held up his hand to explain, "There is still tension and feuding, and a lot of criminals out there. It's still not safe to wonder about." He smiled, "But yes. He's dead."

"And Harry?" Ellie breathed.

"It's my understanding that Harry fought a very good, and victorious, fight."

That night, Ellie sat in her room, at a little desk that Alden had built for her to write upon. It creaked under her weight because, though Alden was strong, he lacked the geometry skills for building. Russell and Alden, together, could have built her a perfect desk, but this was impossible, for they were hardly home at the same time. He tried to engrave designed upon it, and flatten the top of it for her, and she appreciated the thought and his effort. It was crude, poorly made, and it was hers.

The fields that surrounded their house were completely black, thanks to the gloominess of England in general. Ellie didn't particularly enjoy England, for she hoped that someday she'd find a warmer place, more like Scotland, and this was mainly because of how beautiful Hogwarts had been.

Hogwarts. Her experience there, albeit short, was quite amazing. And her experience with a certain Chosen One also, and also albeit short, was amazing.

Ellie sighed and pulled herself up from her desk to close the curtains of her room. He wouldn't be coming tonight.

She undressed and got into her sleeping gown quietly while she listened to the pitter pattering of her brothers down stairs. They often stayed up much later than she did, talking about the war, their finances, and Ellie's safety. In the end, it was there time to plan out how to properly parent her. She had overheard them a million times, yelling, fighting, over the course of action to either raise her or teach her, and every time, she would have to find her way past them. But tonight, instead of deep discussion, Ellie couldn't help but notice that it was quiet.

She normally didn't venture downstairs to see what her brothers were talking about. But tonight, after feeling a shiver of some sort run through her small body, she decided that tonight she would find out.

She walked out of her room to hear some soft mumbling and shuffling of feet, three pairs of feet. She walked down the wooden stairs, also built by Alden but measured by Russell so she didn't have to lose her footing while descending. Once to the bottom, she found herself standing next to the doorway of the kitchen and listening in.

"How was it? How is everyone?"

"Safe." Said another voice, one of which Ellie recognized. But for a moment, she pressed herself against the wall and listened intently.

"You're here to see Ellie." Said Russell.

"Yes." Harry said softly, "If she'll see me. I've been gone for a while…"

There was a pause, and Ellie realized that her night gown was showing at the edge of the doorway. Russell chuckled softly and said, "I think she will. We'll head up stairs."

The two brothers passed Ellie, pressed against the wall, and both smiled at her as they walked past her. There was a pause, in which Ellie waited until she couldn't hear the foot steps of her brothers any longer as they walked upstairs. She then decided it'd be best to turn the corner and walk into the kitchen.

She was greeted by a Harry that was a year older than the one she saw last. His hair was longer, and full of knots, for she could tell that while he was looking over the entire wizarding world, he didn't get the change to look after himself. There were scars on his face still, from his Battle at Hogwarts, and his lips were chapped. He was wearing only a grey tee-shirt and jeans, opting out of wizard robes for his travel through muggle country. He had become stronger, older, and more worn. It was obvious that the poor boy, no, man had been through war. He smiled sheepishly at Ellie and said softly, "Hey."

Ellie smiled, "Hello."

Harry watched as she walked into the kitchen. She was shy, just like she had been when he first met her. "You're speaking still."

"You asked me to."

Harry smiled and started to walk towards her. She didn't fidget or turn away, but let her arms drop from her shoulders where they were laid. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her to him, to which she happily complied in leaning into him. He had hugged Hermione and Ron during the war, often having to hug himself, but it was during these times that he missed Ellie the most. It was she that he wanted to hold, to hear. She sighed happily as he squeezed her and buried her nose into the crook of his shoulder and neck. "You've been so brave." Harry said softly.

"We all have been." Ellie corrected.

"I'm sure we'll soon be hearing war stories from our fellow wizards." Harry mused as he swayed with her body, side to side, as if they were dancing. He leaned down to kiss her ear when she spoke next.

"We'll hear them when we hear laughter in Diagon Alley again."

Harry nodded, "And when we see Hogwarts first years get onto the Express."

"And when we have to watch misuse of magic on muggle artifacts again."

Harry pulled away from her far enough to capture her lips in a kiss, to which she breathed in deeply and returned. Harry spread his fingers along her back and pressed her to him, so that she was as close as one could get with two older brothers just a floor above them. When they pulled away for air, Harry said, "The silent courage of our people." And Ellie nodded fervently before pulling him down for another kiss.

And another.

And another.

And a marriage.

And a child.

And a future.

* * *

Who here is a little upset that it took me this long to finish this story?  
I'll be leaving now. Toodles!


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